Arely Vasquez is a 4th year data science student, and has been a part of TRELS for Summer 2020 and Fall 2020. Arely's TRELS project involved using data science to understand why there is a lack of diversity in faculty at universities. She created a website to address the root cause for this issue. The website contains data analytics and resources to help support underrepresented students in higher education.
 
Check out Arely's work: https://diversifyeducation.netlify.app/
 
Below are some insights about Arely's experience working with her faculty mentor, Professor Jingo Shang.
 
Please describe your experience working with faculty on your project:
I had the fortunate opportunity of working with professor Jingo Shang over the course of the two quarters. Research was something new and foreign to me. I really had no idea what I was doing initially. With Professor Shang, he was able to give me guidance, support, and the freedom to do what I wanted with my TRELS research project. Whenever I would get stuck for a couple days, I would hop on a zoom call and talk out my hurdle with Professor Shang and he would give me new routes and approaches to consider. This really helped me and gave me insight on how to think like a researcher. I always felt supported and I felt like I had someone to reach out to in case I was lost or needed guidance. 
 
Did you learn something new? How did the faculty help you? Are you still in connection with your faculty mentor?
I learned a lot from working with my professor. I learned that connecting with professors is really not as scary as it may seem. After working with my professor, I have gained confidence in approaching professors and being more open to building a connection with them in the classroom. I never did this my first couple years of college. I wish I knew how valuable this was beforehand. I am still working with Professor Shang and I am still in connection with him! He is always very open to being there to support me outside of the classroom and outside of my research project. 
 
What did you take away from this research experience?
I learned that research is a very valuable experience during your undergrad. I didn’t really know what research was and how unique it looked in every field. I highly recommend that everyone take a summer or a quarter to conduct research. There are also a handful of opportunities at UCSD which makes it more accessible. It really gives you the freedom to apply skills that you learned in the classroom to a topic important to you and to others. For example, I used data science to support underrepresented students in higher education. 

Tajairi Brown-Neuson is a 4th year literature/writing student, and has been a part of TRELS for Spring 2020 and Fall 2020. Tajairi's first project was a research paper that focused on Analyzing How UCSD Can Tackle the Climate Crisis with Student Input, and his second project focused on a plant-based program which he titled New Week New Me. 
 
Below are some insights about Tajairi's experience working with his faculty mentor, Professor Jane Teranes. 
 
I really had essentially no clue what research entailed before I started being advised by Dr. Teranes. I knew that I wanted to do it, but I didn’t know what to do. One day, while I was taking SIO 25: a climate change class that she was teaching, I went to her office hours and told her about TRELS and how I wanted to research Climate Change, but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to research. During our meeting, she gave me a plethora of project ideas to think about. One of them was analyzing a report on how UCSD could tackle the climate crisis, a report that she and several other members of the academic senate had been working on. After examining the report on my own this became the basis for my project and she helped me flesh out my ideas and transform them out into an actual project. 
 
For my first project, I evaluated our dining halls’ meat purchases and estimated the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by them. Then I surveyed students and led focus groups to gauge their receptivity to sustainable dining hall changes such as banning the sale of meat. Dr. Teranes helped me make sure I was calculating the numbers correctly and advised me on how I formulated the questions. 

For my second project, I created a program where 4 members of the UCSD community followed a plant-based diet for a week while someone who already followed a plant-based diet tracked their eating habits. For this project, Dr. Teranes again helped me flesh out my idea, recruit people for the program, and how the program’s structure and materials. 
 
I truly enjoyed working with Dr. Teranes because she allowed me to learn on my own while also guiding me when necessary. I enjoyed my TRELS experience so much that I applied for the McNair Scholars Program and got in.  In fact, Dr. Teranes wrote a letter recommending me for the program and I got in! Since I still am working on the project right now, we’re still in contact, but even afterward I feel like if  I ever have questions about research or climate change, I can reach out to Dr. Teranes.